US SEC Probes NLNG $180m Bribes
Corruption
By Mike Oduniyi, with Agency report
The United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a formal investigation into the alleged payment of $180 million bribes by Halliburton and its partners in the consortium that won contracts for the construction of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant.
Halliburton's subsidiary, Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), is one of four partners in the TSKJ consortium that first won the contract to build the first two-trains of the $3.8 billion Bonny LNG plant in 1993.
The consortium, which includes Technip of France, ENI of Italy, and Japan Gasoline, also built the NLNG third train in 2003 and is currently handling the construction of the fourth and fifth trains of the plant.
The SEC alleged that Halliburton and the other partners paid $180 million in bribes, and that the payments were made to Nigerian officials.
The Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), owners of the plant, has denied knowledge of any payments of the bribes.
Making the investigation formal allows regulators to subpoena individuals and documents.
TSKJ is a private limited liability company registered in Portugal
Investigators have asked Halliburton for access to information reviewing the payments in light of the requirements of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The NLNG plant is owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, with 49 percent equity, Shell, 25.4 percent, Total, 15 percent and Agip, 10.6 percent.
TSKJ is also bidding to build a sixth train (production line) for Bonny LNG Plant, expected to $1.25 billion.The shareholders in the plant make the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the project in September this year.
Halliburton said it has met with the SEC to discuss the matter. The company however, said: "While Halliburton does not believe that it has violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Halliburton's own internal investigation of these matters is ongoing and there can be no assurance that government authorities would not conclude otherwise."
It was the latest in the series of probes launched against the world's largest oilfield-services company. The US Justice Department first launched investigations into the alleged bribe last January. A French magistrate is also investigating the matter.
The Federal Government equally ordered an investigation last February and lawyers have since been studying the payments.
Halliburton first faced bribe saga in Nigeria last year when it was discovered that it paid $2.4 million to some people to evade the payment of tax running to $5 million.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) revealed recently that the oil service firm had paid $3.1 million out of its tax liabilities. The company is expected to pay additional taxes in excess of $10 million), which included income tax and value added tax (VAT) that was arrived at after the audit carried out by KPMG, the tax consultant to the FIRS.
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